Wonder Bar

UPC: 883316182147

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Suitable for Children]

Summary: Based on Al Jolson's 1931 Broadway hit, Wonder Bar transposes the "Grand Hotel" formula to a lavish nightclub in Paris' Montmartre district. Presiding over the evening's entertainment is manager-emcee Al Wonder (Jolson), who after greeting his guests in a multitude of languages (a la Joel Grey in Cabaret) introduces a steady stream of top variety acts. The star attraction of the Wonder Bar floor show is the Latin dance team of Inez (Dolores Del Rio) and Harry (Ricardo Cortez). Al worships Inez from afar, but she is hopelessly in love with Harry, a no-good louse who is carrying on with Liane (Kay Francis), the wife of prominent banker Renaud (Henry Kolker). Meanwhile, German military officer Captain Von Ferring (Robert H. Barrat), who has lost his fortune to bad investments, enjoys one last fling at the Wonder Bar before committing suicide. The two main subplots converge when Inez stabs Harry out of pique, whereupon the ever-loyal Al deposits Harry's body in Von Ferring's car, knowing full well that Von Ferring intends to drive himself off a steep hill to his death. Never letting Inez find out that she killed Harry, Al stands stoically aside as she finds true happiness with composer Tommy (Dick Powell). Lest this all sound heavily somberly serious, it should be noted that Wonder Bar is chock full of laughs, from both Jolson (who runs through quite a repertoire of tried-and-true routines) and the drunken antics of "tired business men" Hugh Herbert and Hobart Cavanaugh. The musical numbers staged by Busby Berkeley range from sedate to incredible, with the bizarrely racist 10-minute "Goin' to Heaven on a Mule" (truly a jaw-dropping experience) falling into the latter category. The film's most outrageous moment, however, is an uninhibited chunk of homosexual humor on the dance floor ("Boys will be boys!", crows Jolson) which just barely squeaked past the Hollywood censors! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Romance

Wonder Bar

Format: DVD

Release Date: 07/21/2009

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 84 Minutes

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Craig Butler

Wonder Bar is one of the strangest of Hollywood's early musicals. A backstager, Wonder Bar is much less concerned with getting a show on than with cataloguing the sexual desires of its ensemble cast -- sometimes with humor, sometimes with drama. There's a refreshing frankness and even a lurid quality to much of the goings-on, surprising for the era, which gives the film a distinctive tone. Busby Berkeley has a grand time with the "Don't Say Good Night" sequence, which grows from a duet between Dolores Del Rio and Ricardo Cortez to a group number involved white clad and black masked revelers moving betwixt shifting white columns, leading up to a climax involving mirrors that is quite breathtaking. Unfortunately, Berkeley is also at least partially responsible for the notorious "Goin' to Heaven on a Mule" number, considered by many as the most offensive sequence in musical film history. Another of Jolson's blackface routines, it features practically every possible racial stereotype, including a giant watermelon upon which Hal LeRoy performs his taps. Much more interesting (and better) is the masochistic tango danced by Del Rio and Cortez, a powerful number with a whipping sequence that is truly disturbing. Aside from the "Mule" number, Jolson is good here, fitting into the ensemble surprisingly well while still retaining his bravado, and Del Rio and Cortez are a fascinating couple. Bacon's direction is solid, with some inventive editing and camera angles. In spite of "Mule," Wonder Bar is an absorbing musical melodrama with some exceptional sequences. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Gino Corrado  Actor 
William "Wild Bill" Elliott  Actor 
Alphonse Martell  Actor 
Mia Ichioka  Actor 
Billy Anderson  Actor 
Pauline Garon  Actor 
Edward Keane  Actor 
Rosalie Roy  Actor 
Dennis O'Keefe  Actor 
Hobart Cavanaugh  Actor 
Jane Darwell  Actor 
Grace Hayle  Actor 
William Stack  Actor 
Harry Woods  Actor 
Emile Chautard  Actor 
George Irving  Actor 
Kathryn Sergava  Actor 
Michael Dalmatoff  Actor 
William Granger  Actor 
Merna Kennedy  Actor 
Rolfe Sedan  Actor 
Spencer Charters  Actor 
Gordon de Main  Actor 
Amo Ingraham  Actor 
Renee Whitney  Actor 
Alfred P. James  Actor 
Demetrius Alexis  Actor 
Eddie Kane  Actor 
Henry O'Neill  Actor 
Dave "Tex" O'Brien  Actor 
Clay Clement  Actor 
Bud Jamison  Actor 
John Marlowe  Actor 
Robert Graves  Actor 
Paul Power  Actor 
Lloyd Bacon  Director 
Earl W. Baldwin  Screenwriter 
Robert Lord  Producer 
Kay Francis  Actor 
Dick Powell  Actor 
Al Jolson  Actor 
Dolores Del Rio  Actor 
Ricardo Cortez  Actor 
Hal Le Roy  Actor 
Guy Kibbee  Actor 
Ruth Donnelly  Actor 
Hugh Herbert  Actor 
Louise Fazenda  Actor 
Fifi D'Orsay  Actor 
Robert H. Barrat  Actor 
Henry Kolker  Actor 

Country: USA